


As You Say

by Nary



Category: Neo-Babylonian Break-Up Letter (Hyperallergic April Fools Post)
Genre: Background Poly, Childhood Friends, Idiots in Love, Letters, Miscommunication, Multi, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nary/pseuds/Nary
Summary: King Nabonidus first heard the rumor from a Persian merchant who sold fine jewelry, who travelled with his riverboat caravan to the palace hoping to find a buyer for his wares.  "These" he said, having spread out a cloth before the king and laid the heavy gold and glistening gems there with a delicate hand, "are the very best I have to offer.  So fine that the great General Nisaba bought one for his wife.""General Nisaba has no wife," the king said, frowning.  "I should know, for he has been my dearest friend since childhood.""Ah," the merchant said.  "Perhaps I misunderstood."
Comments: 44
Kudos: 116
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	As You Say

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lemonsharks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonsharks/gifts).



King Nabonidus first heard the rumor from a Persian merchant who sold fine jewelry, who travelled with his riverboat caravan to the palace hoping to find a buyer for his wares. "These" he said, having spread out a cloth before the king and laid the heavy gold and glistening gems there with a delicate hand, "are the very best I have to offer. So fine that the great General Nisaba bought one for his wife."

"General Nisaba has no wife," the king said, frowning. "I should know, for he has been my dearest friend since childhood."

"Ah," the merchant said. "Perhaps I misunderstood. For his concubine, then - a beautiful woman with hair of the darkest onyx, eyes of emerald green, and skin like fine amber, very much like this necklace in fact..."

The king's frown deepened. He only knew of one woman who matched that description. "Kizalaqu?" 

"As you say, your majesty," the merchant said, bowing respectfully. "The general had her examine an armband of gold and amethyst before he purchased it. A most generous man, General Nisaba..."

"She was at his home?" the king bellowed. The merchant, with his hopes of a sale dwindling rapidly, made a hasty retreat before he could be questioned further by the irate monarch.

"What would you do," the king asked his cupbearer that night at dinner, "if your beloved was found to be visiting with another man?"

The cupbearer's beloved was the master of the king's stables, and as such his ability to relate to the king's dilemma was encompassed by the knowledge that his own particular beloved spent most of his time with other men. "Sire, sometimes a visit is just a visit. Perhaps they are merely friends."

"Bah!" exclaimed the king. "Friends! Nisaba is a great conqueror of women, he does not have them as friends."

"As you say, your majesty," the cupbearer said, refilling his master's wine and wondering how long until he could escape from the dinner table to see his own beloved, among the hay of the stables.

Unable to settle for rest, the king tossed and turned in his royal bed. Kizalaqu had been one of his favored concubines for several years, and to hear of her betrayal like this was a shock beyond measure. "Husband, cease your tossing and turning," his queen Nitocris said. "I can see you are troubled by this news."

"I am," he agreed, folding his hands over his stomach. "What would you do, in my place?"

Nitocris said, "I would put her aside, but not cruelly, not with punishments and proclamations of her wanton ways. If her heart has led her elsewhere, then what good is it to punish her for that? Have her come and retrieve her things, and be done with her. There are other beautiful girls in this world, after all." And she gave her husband a kiss that distracted him momentarily, but did not end the turmoil in his heart.

On the morrow, the king called for his secretary and had him inscribe a message to Kizalaqu in the city of Babylon. He tried to heed his wife's call to be fair, not cruel, although he could not resist telling her how hurt he was by her betrayal. The scribe's stylus pressed into the soft clay, forming the intricate shapes. "Inform her that I will hold her possessions for one cycle of the moon, before donating them to the temple of the moon god Sīn," the king said.

"As you say, your majesty," said the scribe, already considering whether he might be able to get hold of one of the disgraced concubine's fine linen shawls for his daughter's wedding, which was coming up in just over a month's time.

After the message was fired, it was dispatched along with a number of others heading for the city, and King Nabonidus tried to put it out of his mind. He called for his court musicians to play for him and lift the cares from his spirit. But the music, although lovely, did not delight him. The dancers with their chiming bells and graceful footfalls could not distract him from the thought of Nisaba embracing his beloved Kizalaqu, the vision of his lips on her honeyed skin. The food brought before him at dinner lacked flavor and he even waved away his wine, finding no solace there either.

Just as the meal was drawing to its conclusion, General Nisaba entered the hall. His powerful strides carried him swiftly to the king's table, and he bowed deeply. "Your majesty," he said, "I trust you are well?"

The king was speechless. He could hardly believe that Nisaba would dare to come before him so brazenly, knowing what he had done. He raised his hand, about to order his guards to seize the general, but he hesitated. This was his friend since boyhood, whom he had loved before he had loved any woman. Could he allow a woman now to come between them? "Nisaba, be welcome," he managed to say, choking back his anger.

"I come bearing a gift for you," the general said, and drew from his tunic a heavy bracelet of gold set with vibrant purple gems. "I would be honored to place it on your wrist."

For a long moment, King Nabonidus was stunned. "Did you purchase this bracelet from a riverboat merchant not long ago?"

"Persian fellow, short beard, long face, that's the one."

"It is very fine," Nabonidus said slowly, as Nisaba clasped the band around his wrist. "How did you pick it? For he had many fine pieces among his wares."

"Ah, the beautiful Kizalaqu advised me. She said the purple stones would well suit a king." Nisaba hesitated. "Is it to your liking? Should I remove it? You seem unhappy, but perhaps I can cheer you..."

"I am not unhappy," Nabonidus said, "but I fear I have made a grave error. Do you have your chariot with you?"

"Of course," said Nisaba. "My horse is weary after the journey, but in a short time another could be harnessed. Where do you need to go?"

"To intercept a messenger with a tablet," said the king, rising from his chair with urgent purpose.

Nisaba's chariot moved swiftly through the night, drawn by a horse with a golden coat and a light step. The general steered and the king held on for dear life. The road was rough and the night dark, and any misstep could mean their deaths, but the horse knew the route and Nisaba was a skillful driver. King Nabonidus trusted his friend to keep them both safe.

Before them in the path, a man stepped out, and Nisaba had to rein in the horse to keep from running him down. "Good evening, travelers," the man said. "Where do you go in such a hurry, so late at night?"

"Move aside," said the king, unaccustomed to being prevented from going wherever he wanted. "Drive around him," he added to Nisaba.

"I would not advise that," the stranger said. "For if you continue down this road, you will surely perish."

"Is there a flood, or a rockslide?" Nisaba asked.

"Neither," said the man. "But there is a group of bandits waiting above the valley ahead to slay any foolhardy travelers. For a fee, I would be glad to ensure that you pass them safely."

"How will you ensure this?" asked the king, skeptically.

"Why, I will call them off. For I am their leader," said the bandit, with a wave of his hand.

"I see," said King Nabonidus. "So we are to pay you for the privilege of passing this road?" Nisaba's hand lay lightly on his spear, but the king stilled him with a touch to his arm.

"As you say, your majesty. You could of course take the southern road instead," said the bandit, perhaps unaware of this imminent threat, "but you look to be in a hurry, and it will add many hours to your journey to the great city. It would be more economical to make a small payment and continue this way."

"Then I will pay you with this fine golden armband," said the king, removing the bracelet which Nisaba had given him only a short time earlier. The general drew in his breath, as if to speak, but once again the king quieted him with a touch. 

The bandit took the bracelet and blew a piercing whistle which echoed off the rocks of the passage ahead. Another call answered him, and he stepped aside to permit the men to pass. "Safe travels, and may you find what calls you out at this late hour," said the bandit, waving farewell.

"I bought that for you," Nisaba said once they were safely away. "I could have fought him, and any bandits in our path."

"I know," said the king. "And your gift was beautiful. But your life is of more value to me than gold and jewels. I could not risk it on my behalf." His arm tightened around Nisaba's waist and the general lowered his head and drove the chariot on more swiftly than before.

They reached the city just after dawn, and made their way to the walled home of Kizalaqu, where the king hammered on the door. The maidservant who, after some time, opened the door with bleary eyes was surprised to see them there, first hissing, "What do you want?!" and then bowing deeply in alarm and concern when she realized who she was speaking to.

"Good morning," said the king. "Has a message for your mistress been delivered yet?"

The maid, who would have been woken still earlier by any such delivery, and thus been even more cross, shook her head. "No, your majesty. There has been no messenger today."

The king sighed with relief, and the general clapped him on the shoulder. "There, you are saved!"

As he spoke, two things happened at once. The fair Kizalaqu appeared at her window, peering out to see who was making such noise in her courtyard. And a messenger carrying a heavy satchel of clay tablets presented himself at the door. "A delivery for the lady of the house!" he said, withdrawing the tablet intended for Kizalaqu.

The king, who was swift of judgment if not always of wits, grabbed the tablet from the messenger's hand and threw it to the ground, where it shattered on the stones of the courtyard. The messenger exclaimed in protest, "It is an offense against the king himself to destroy a tablet before it can be delivered!"

"I am the king himself, and I hereby issue a pardon for this offense," said Nabonidus, as Nisaba covered his mouth with his hand to avoid laughing.

"As you say, your majesty," said the messenger hastily, and backed out of the courtyard, still bowing.

Kizalaqu, wrapped in a robe of fine bronze silk, made her way down the stairs to the courtyard. "My dearest," she said, "I was not expecting you. Is something amiss?"

"Only that I am a fool," said the king. "I come to make my amends for ever mistrusting you."

Kizalaqu's smile was like the moon emerging from behind a veil of clouds. "What had I done, beloved, to cause you to mistrust me?"

"Nothing," Nabonidus said, "except giving advice to my dear friend Nisaba."

"Much good it did," said Nisaba. "The gift you so kindly helped me choose is lost to bandits, and I didn't even get a chance to say the words you suggested."

"Words?" Nabonidus' brow furrowed in puzzlement. "What words do you mean?"

Nisaba sighed, and Kizalaqu put a hand on the king's arm. "Come inside, both of you - you must be weary after traveling all night, and hungry as well."

In the inner chamber of her house, the maidservant grumbled a little as she brought a bowl of dates and nuts and soft cheese to the new arrivals, and Kizalaqu made them comfortable, spreading out soft blankets and pillows for them to sit upon. 

"Now, Nisaba, if you wish to speak your mind, do so," said the king, anxious with the weight of unspoken words hanging over him by the slenderest of threads.

"As you say, your majesty, my dearest companion of many years." Nisaba gathered his courage to speak. "I asked Kizalaqu for advice because you love her, and she knows the ways of your heart better than any other. I thought that she might be the wisest guide to aid me in telling you how I truly feel. She helped me to choose a gift, but more than that, she helped me to choose the words to say, my feelings for you are stronger than those of a friend, or a loyal general. They are those of a lover for his beloved. If you do not think you can return my love, I accept your refusal, and hope only that you can forgive my presumptuous affection."

Nabonidus was silent for a time, thinking on these words, for he did not wish to rush to judgment over something so delicate as this. "I did not know you felt this way," he said. "Have I been blind to your feelings all these years?"

"They did not grow all at once, like mushrooms after rain, but slowly, like a cedar tree, until one day I stood in its kind shade and did not know how I had ever lived without it."

("Those were some of the words I suggested," Kizalaqu said.)

"My dearest Nisaba," the king said, "I would be lost without you. Your strength and bravery on the battlefield keep me safe. But this is braver still. I only regret that I did not know the truth of your feelings earlier. Of course I love you." And they embraced, Nisaba trembling with relief against the king's shoulder, Nabonidus wiping tears from his eyes.

"Good, so that's settled," Kizalaqu said with a smile. "Although I'm sorry to hear the bracelet was lost - it was very handsome."

"I will buy another," Nisaba said, although Nabonidus protested that it was unnecessary.

"Now," said Kizalaqu, "come to my bedchamber and rest."

"I don't know that there will be much rest," Nabonidus said with a grin.

"As you say, your majesty," they both replied, and brought him to bed.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [naryrising](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/naryrising) if you want to ask questions, make requests, or chat!


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